A Grave Danger
by Kaoden
Summary: Upon entering an ancient tomb with promises of treasure, the Straw Hat Pirates are quickly separated. Will they get out, and more importantly, will they get the treasure? ZoRo mostly, slight LuNa. T for language. Story finished.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Warning, long note ahead, read if you'd like. Not involved in any particular story, but for the sake of it let's put it at right after Enels Lobby (changed the timing to fit the story a little better, also I meant to have this change around chapter two, but forgot to replace the old chapter with the edited one, hence why I'm using Yubashiri, thanks hullo for the point out). This will be my first attempt at a multi-chapter story and I'm going to try to involve a good amount of fighting sequences. This is somewhat experimental for me with writing since I'm still getting the ins and outs of perspective and I don't have too much experience in writing these kinds of stories. With that said, I can't begin to say how much I would love to be criticized! Does something come across as OOC? Am I not descriptive enough in certain areas, if so, where and how? Is my grammar/diction good? I'll be reading every single review and they will without a doubt cause me to try to update faster, so if you like the story definitely review it! That's not to say you HAVE to critique it in any way, just that everything is incredibly appreciated. Also, the Anubis stuff may not be completely correct, but I'm bending it a little if it's wrong to fit the story. Thanks for reading!

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_Looks like everybody got themselves lost again…_ Zoro thought to himself. _Damn, why is it that whenever we go into some ruins to find some stupid treasure that everybody somehow manages to get separated?_

Granted, they weren't really in ruins, per se, more like deep inside of a tomb of some sort. Whether or not his companion seemed to notice or care for that matter didn't seem to distract her from her awe.

_She always gets like this whenever we find some sort of ancient relic or ruins of an older civilization. Well, it's to be expected since she is trying to locate that poneglyph or whatever it was to learn about this 'lost history'. Only one thing is starting to bother me…_

Turning back to Robin, the Straw Hats' archeologist, Zoro barked out "Oi, why do you keep following every step I take? There's plenty of room here and you're usually much more explorative when it comes to these things. Geeze, I don't even know why I came into this stupid place."

"Oh? I don't recall anybody forcing you to come with us. You could have easily stayed back on the ship with the others." Robin replied rather snidely.

Zoro raised his eyebrow and took a tone that matched Robin's, "And have to deal with that damn cook obsessing over Nami? No thanks, I think I'll pass on that one, it's nearly impossible to concentrate long enough to exercise with the racket he makes."

Robin raised her arms up slightly to the side while half-heartedly shaking her head, "Very well, do as you please. Just don't refer to these magnificent records of history as 'stupid'; they are priceless keepsakes of an untellable history, especially if no previous records exist."

Looking back to his companion somewhat confusedly, Zoro asked "An untellable history? How exactly would you learn anything from these kinds of places?"

Her interest piqued again, Robin stopped and began to examine a peculiar painting on the wall she had just noticed. It portrayed Anubis-like creatures with blood covering their hands striking down crude adaptations of what she assumed to be thieves. Some of them held prolonged scepters and blades while the others only used their claws. Behind them was a staircase leading up to an eye over viewing the carnage.

Having noticed her stop, Zoro turned around to hear Robin call him over. "Here, look at this. Anubis creatures are commonly used as a symbol of death and the after-life in certain cultures. The Anubis is supposed to guide the leader of the civilization into the afterlife and to protect the burial grounds. From this depiction, we can see that there is indeed something being guarded and hidden in here, represented by this shining eye. If the navigator is to be believed from before, there is supposed to be some manner of large diamond ornament inside of this tomb and I would guess that it's this eye."

Looking at the picture she was describing, Zoro found himself fixed more so on something other than the glowing eye in question. "While I'm very impressed that you can deduce all of that from a single picture, I happen to notice something of a 'stay out or die' vibe coming from this picture."

Responding very plainly, Robin kept examining the wall to see if there were any more indications or clues to the eye's location. "Yes, it would seem that way." Having become satisfied that there were no more clues to be found, she straightened up.

Robin changed her view to the swordsman and thought that he seemed to be extremely interested at the conversation at hand, something she never thought would occur with him. After all, she thought that he only concerned himself with getting stronger towards his ambition of becoming the world's strongest swordsman. These things never used to linger on his mind.

Turning his attention back to the archeologist, Zoro could make out exactly what was on her mind. "Look, I can guess what you're thinking about. Just because I have a goal doesn't mean that's the only thing I care about. In the time all of us have travelled together we've become more than crewmates, we've become family. It's only natural that parts of the ambitions and interests that are particular to each of us become imprinted on the others. Just the other day Sanji and Chopper were collaborating on making much healthier and tasty foods and medicines, something that I doubt would have happened when they first met."

Robin began to wonder in what ways she had changed but more specifically she wondered what kind of bond the green haired swordsman and her shared. "What about me then? How have I changed?" She asked, turning to face Zoro.

The question, catching him off guard, and the stare that followed caused Zoro to grunt a little. Zoro had to resist an imminent urge to angrily turn around without answering the question. "It's hard to tell, to be honest…" he began as he glanced around occasionally to avoid a prolonged stare, "I don't really know much about your life before you came onto the ship, but if I can say anything that you've changed with it would be the books you read. When you first joined the crew, all you read about appeared to be old historical writings about specific events or places. Now you read more recent books about things that reflect the rest of the crew's desires."

Somewhat surprised and even more pleased than she thought she would be to learn that the swordsman watched her, Robin decided to tease him. "Oh? Does that mean you watch me, Kenshi-san?"

Grunting again, this time in embarrassment, Zoro quickly responded while his cheeks began to darken slightly. "Geh. A swordsman must always be aware of his surroundings and what is going on. Otherwise his senses become dulled and that is unacceptable."

"Is that so? I see." Robin audaciously said.

Quickly changing the subject, Zoro interrupted Robin. "Regardless, what's important here is that there are traps and possibly more in this tomb. That's easy to determine since that dumbass Luffy set off the trap that separated us to begin with. Leave it to him to run into something with no regard for thought or safety. Anyways, I think we should get out of here since the traps are only going to get more deadly. No tangible treasure is worth dying for."

Distracted by the last statement, Robin confusedly said, "Isn't becoming the world's greatest swordsman the treasure you seek? What makes that different from any other treasure if there's a tremendous value to be put on it?"

Becoming slightly disappointed with his companion's question, Zoro rested his right arm on his katana and waved the other one slightly at her. "The difference is that I'm not planning on dying for my dream, nor is Luffy or anyone else on the crew, for that matter. What pirate worth their mettle is going to die to achieve some treasure when they have no way to celebrate it? Becoming the world's greatest swordsman may be the treasure I desire, but I'll only die if it's a result of that pursuit, not as an aid for it. And if I do die, that just shows what kind of a man I was. I hope you don't plan on dying for your dream, Robin."

Taken aback by his insightful response, Robin felt herself embarrassed for one of the rare few moments it occurred. Refusing to accept the swordsman's take on a person's dream when she herself committed to the idea of dying for hers if needed, Robin angrily responded "So what! What if I do have to die for my dream, what then? Are you telling me to give it up!?"

"Of course not, what kind of hypocrite would I be if I told you to give up your dream?" Zoro began to almost yell back at the raven haired archeologist, "All I'm saying is that you shouldn't commit yourself to believing that it's worth dying for. Dying is a possibility, yes, but you shouldn't accept it as inevitability!"

Still trying to soak in everything that was said, Robin regained her composure and took her turn in changing the subject. "You asked me earlier why I kept following every step you took. It's as you said before, there are most likely still traps in wait to be sprung, so I figured the path you would take would be so inordinate it would help us avoid most of them. So far it seems to have worked. If you really want to leave here, I shall follow you." Having no interest in leaving the tomb since they were so far in, Robin figured that if the swordsman tried to find a path outside the tomb, they would eventually reach the center with the eye presumably there.

"Ah, yosh." Zoro simply responded as he took the lead again and began walking. After a couple of seconds, the extent of what Robin had said began to sink in. "Wait!" Zoro angrily turned his head back to the archeologist as he kept walking, "What are you trying to say, that I have a bad sense of direction?"

"No, I was just saying that you have an uncanny ability to end up in areas other than your intended destination through unthought-of paths." Robin wryly responded.

"Ah, yosh." Zoro answered again continued walking. After a couple of seconds, "Wait… you!" This time almost red in the face in a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, Zoro stopped and yelled back "That's the same exact thing as telling me I have a bad sense of direction. You know what? That's it, I'm proving once and for all I can get to any place I want through NORMAL means."

As he began to pick their route, Zoro noticed the path to their left opened up in a fashion similar to a T. Resisting the urge to go left and veer off their current path, Zoro instead continued to keep walking on straight.

Hearing a clicking noise when he passed the left corridor, Zoro felt the sickening sensation of missing a step as he began to fall frontwards into a pit. He couldn't see the bottom but he knew it would be his death.

_Yet another note: Sorry for the lack of the proclaimed action sequences, I'll definitely be getting to those. I wanted to have some dialogue leading up to it as I am a huge fan of this pairing and their interaction. I hope you enjoyed and expect more in the future. Also, I know it kind of ends suddenly but it was getting way too long and I needed a place to stop so I can write a decent amount of mid-sized chapters instead of a few insanely long ones. From now on they'll be better timed._


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to everybody who has reviewed so far, it's greatly appreciated. Tare_Chan mentioned that it was a little unclear as to why/how they got there. I wasn't going to explain it at first, but since you mentioned it I agree that it would be a good idea and it would help clear things up, so thanks for the suggestion. I wanted to add more action in, but once again length restrictions have caused me to cut it short. I'll return to the tomb next chapter and explain how they got separated sometime in the future. I'll try to get some of the serious fighting in the next chapter, so if that's what you're mainly reading this for, just be a little more patient! I should mention also that I have a pretty good idea of how I want the story to go, and adding these extra chapters and having them be surprisingly long is exciting since we still have a ways to go. Expect much more in the future!

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He was falling. He didn't know where to or how far he would fall. He didn't even know what lay at the bottom for that matter. As pieces of the ground he formerly stepped on fell beside him and the light from the torches began to fade, all that was going through Zoro's mind was how the hell he even ended up there.

About 2 hours earlier, Zoro had been trying to take his mid-afternoon nap against the mast of the Thousand Sunny. It had become difficult lately to take naps ever since Water 7. He wasn't sure what the reason was, but after a time Zoro began to think it was because of the new ship. He had begun trying out different spots on the ship to find out which ones he liked the most since he could no longer use his favorite spots on Merry. He thought that perhaps the grass under him would be the right approach to take. Although it took him some time and effort, he was finally about to slip into sleep that he heard footsteps come towards him.

"Hey, Zoro, get up. We're approaching an island where there's treasure rumored to be at. I want you to be a part of the search party that's going on the island."

He knew the voice all too well. Whenever he heard it 'ask' for him to do something, trouble always ensued. He attempted to make it go away by pretending to be asleep. Maybe if the person thought he was asleep, they would leave him alone.

"You're not fooling anybody, idiot. I know that you're still awake, Zoro. Look at me or I'm going to increase your debt so much that you'll never be able to repay me."

His eye twitching in anger, Zoro had no choice but to open one of his eyes. At least he would be somewhat defiant by not giving her full eye contact. Looking up his eyes met the gaze of the navigator of the crew. Her orange hair swaying slightly in the cool breeze, Zoro noticed the same look she always had when she was scheming. Sure, it looked innocent, but Nami only looks innocent when she wants something from you that she knows she's going to get.

"What is it?" Zoro finally asked his tormenter. The sooner this was over with, the better.

Not at all fazed by his wild demeanor, Nami straightened up and gave him a wink. "Like I said, there's treasure to be found on the island we're approaching. You'll be going with Luffy, Franky, Usopp, and Robin to search for it. If you find it, I'll forget about the money you owe me."

Zoro shuffled slightly and brought his leg up to rest his arm on. "There's a line I've heard before. You know, I'm starting to get the feeling that I don't owe you anything anymore and that you just hold this imaginary debt over my head. And for that matter, what reason do you have to believe there's a treasure in some tomb on an island we've never heard of before? That sounds like crazy talk if you ask me." Zoro then opened both eyes to the navigator to see if she had a distinguishable reaction.

Much to his dismay, the look Nami wore on her face instead of a concerned look was a grim smile. "Is that so? Well, I guess you could be right, but the problem for you is that only one of us knows whether or not you are. Are you willing to take that chance? I will triple your debt if you don't go, regardless if it actually amounts to anything. Also, I happened to overhear two people talking in secret in a tavern at Water 7. They were mentioning searching for a lost treasure and they even had a map and eternal pose that I conveniently borrowed from them."

After another minute Zoro stood up with his teeth gritting together and his fists clenched. "You're a terrible person and I hope you die a horrible death." He stared right past Nami, refusing to make eye contact anymore with the person who constantly backed him into corners and forced him into situations.

"Thank you very much, I'll be sure to get right on it." Nami said slyly. Afterwards, she took a step back and relaxed her posture. "Say, anyways, what's up with you and Robin?"

Taken aback by the question, Zoro could only raise his eyebrow bemusedly as he looked back to Nami. "Eh? What do you mean? What about Robin?"

"Well, you know, ever since we went to sky island I've noticed you two hanging together a lot more. You guys seem to kind of fit, so I was wondering what the deal was." Nami continued.

Still not understanding her line of questioning, Zoro crossed his arms and leaned against the mast of the ship. "I still don't follow you. It doesn't seem like we've been doing anything more than anyone else on the ship does. Besides, up until recently, I still didn't trust her on the ship."

Not believing Zoro for a second, Nami closed her eyes halfway and stared at him accusingly. "Yeah, sure you didn't. I'm pretty sure you stopped mistrusting her shortly after she joined the ship, around when we got to Jaya. You hardly seemed suspecting of her when we scouted the forest on Upper Garden and especially when you caught…" A thought occurred. "Hmm, do you like Robin, as in, like like?"

Zoro grunted in surprise at Nami's question. Slightly red in the face and extremely embarrassed, Zoro wanted nothing but to remove any doubts Nami had. "I don't know." Not the response either of them expected, Zoro decided to quickly avoid the subject. "Well anyways, since we're on the subject and all, what's up with you and Luffy? Do you like him?"

Before he could see her reaction, Zoro felt a painful blow land on the back of his head; probably the worst Nami had ever given him. Looking up irately, Zoro saw that Nami's face was red with anger or something along those lines. "What kind of stupid question is that? How could I ever like a bumbling idiot of a captain like that? The only thing he makes me feel is annoyance and frustration. I still wonder how the hell he ended up as our captain!"

Rubbing the back of his head and trying to avoid another hit from the orange haired navigator, Zoro decided to drop the subject and walk away. "Okay! Geeze, calm down, it was only a question. Besides, it doesn't really matter to me whether or not you do." As Zoro walked away, a light smile began to form on his lips as he thought of a way to get some well deserved revenge on the navigator. "OI, LUFFY! Nami wants to tell you something!" Zoro yelled out to the kitchen. If the captain was anywhere right now, it was asking for pirate bentos from the damn cook.

Surely enough, hardly seconds after being called, Luffy barged through the door with a large chunk of meat in his mouth and a trail of sausage links in his hand. Audible yelling from Sanji could be heard about how Luffy had already had two meals and was getting a bento for the trip. Kicking the door closed behind him, Luffy ran up to the navigator and began talking to her while still chewing his food. "Ooohhhh, Nami! Iz the island cobing up? Are we there yet? I cab't wait to go on an abventure! Say, why is your faze red?"

A resounding thud could be heard from Nami's fist smashing into the back of Luffy's head. The force caused Luffy to prematurely swallow the vast amounts of food in his mouth and his face turned into a deep blue from his nose up. Not helping the situation by grabbing him by the throat, Nami began to shake Luffy's head back and forth while yelling at him for being impatient and asking the same question over twenty times.

Walking away laughing and very satisfied with himself, Zoro walked up the stairs to the head of the ship and sat down against one side. It wasn't until then that he noticed a coffee table with a porcelain glass on a coaster resting on it. A slender hand went to pick it up and Zoro found himself following the hand all the way up to the raven haired archeologist's face. She was reading a book about the history of swordsmanship, strangely enough, and soon enough her eyes went from the pages on the book to her new associate sitting across from her.

After a moment, the archeologist finally spoke up with a small smile on her face. "That wasn't very nice, Kenshi-san. You should be more thoughtful." She then grabbed her cup filled with coffee and took a sip from it, never breaking eye contact.

A boisterous smirk appeared on Zoro's face and he placed both of his hands behind his head. "Believe me, Robin, she had it coming. It's about time that damn woman got she deserved."

Undeterred, the archeologist put her cup down, closed her book, and then folded her hands together with her elbows on the table after placing the book down. "I was talking about the captain, Kenshi-san. You've put him in quite the predicament down there." She then pointed in the direction where Zoro left Luffy and Nami and as Zoro looked he couldn't help but laugh a little to himself.

Back around the mast of the ship, things had erupted into chaos. Nami, still red in the face and her hands around Luffy's neck, was being poorly held back by Usopp. Chopper was clawing at Luffy's leg, yelling for a doctor to come and perform the Heimlich maneuver. Sanji finally walked out of the kitchen, yelling at everyone for being too loud, and then proceeded to run up and kick Luffy in the stomach after he noticed the sausage links still clutched in his hand. After slamming into the living quarters, Luffy was finally able to swallow the food lodged in his throat.

"Phew! I thought I was a goner there! Thanks, Sanji!" The captain of the straw hats exclaimed as he began to laugh excitedly, clapping the heels of his sandals together. "Hey Nami, are we almost there yet? I really really really want to go on an adventure, pleeeeeeease!"

As the scene erupted into another bout of chaos, Zoro looked back to Robin. "I find the most surprising thing about what just happened is that Luffy managed to swallow the food instead of spitting it out. You have to hand it to him though, he's got to be the only person in the Grand Line that can put up with Nami the way he does. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Laughing lightly to herself, Robin opens her book again and continues to read each page carefully. "I suppose you're right, they do go rather well together, don't they? It reminds me of some other people. If you're going to take a nap, I would suggest doing so now. The climate has become more stable since the breeze that came a little ago has stayed. It must be a spring or fall island in one of their lighter seasonal rotations, how nice."

"Oh, you're right; I did notice the breeze a little bit ago, thanks." Zoro then proceeded to lean his swords against the railing next to him with his arm slid over them. Dipping his head down, Zoro decided this spot was good as he was finally able to fall asleep with ease.

_Ending note: It might seem like I've added some Nami x Zoro in too, but that's not really the case. I definitely favor Zoro x Robin and I also like Luffy x Nami a lot too. That being said, I don't know how much LuNa will be in this story, probably not too much, but I might add some more hints as I go on. As for the interaction between Nami and Zoro, I've imagined that if romance were to be involved during the course of One Piece that Nami would get suspicious after a while since she is rather observant. I'm sure Robin would notice some things too, but it doesn't seem like that's something she would bring up in a conversation, much unlike Nami (though I don't think she'd be adverse to talk about it if the subject came up). I imagined that this would be the kind of relationship Zoro and Nami would share, both putting each other on the spotlight for friendly torture. _


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hello again, everybody! I don't know if it seems like I'm updating fast but if it does it's because I'm trying to keep something of a strict schedule with this story. For right now, I'm going to shoot for having updates on Mondays/Fridays. The day may change from Thursday to Friday depending on how much time I feel I need between chapters. I want to keep a strict schedule because I'm already thinking of a large, arc-like story that should take a long time to finish. With luck I'll be able to deliver a quality story in a timely matter, and I hope that eventually my story on whatever date will be something you look forward to. With that said, there are still certain details of which I am uncertain of in regards to the arc I plan on making, so I'll probably make have a poll at the end of this story to see what you guys think. The questions would deal with timelines (after which canon arc), pairings (have/don't have), and whether it should take place after this story (assuming if pairings are wanted). Sorry for continuously large author notes, but I really love feedback/communication and would like it even more if I can write stories that you guys want to read. Enjoy this next chapter and expect another on Friday!

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The last thing Zoro had heard before he had begun his fall was Robin calling out his name. When Zoro was finally out of Robin's earshot, all he could hear were two things. The first was the crumbling rock that had collapsed under him; the other was a higher pitched, more calming sound that reminded him of a xylophone somewhat. Focusing on the second noise, Zoro noticed that Robin had been growing arms from the ceiling since he began his fall and they were frantically pursuing him, the palm of each new arm possessing an eye so that Robin could make sure she was aiming in the right direction. They were slowly getting closer, but Zoro couldn't tell how far he had fallen from the ground he once stood on. There were two pressing possibilities quickly approaching him, one was that he could hit the ground below him at any second while the other was that Robin wouldn't be able to grow any more arms. Either way, the light from the torches was quickly running out and if Zoro did not act soon, then Robin wouldn't be able to see where he was even if she did catch up to him.

Deciding that both options were less than ideal, Zoro began looking around for something to help. It didn't take long for him to notice the large, cube-shaped boulder falling down extremely close to his left side. Zoro swung his right arm to grab on to the boulder, but it was just barely out of his reach. The force from his attempt to grab the boulder caused Zoro to start spinning in the air. A lack of time urgently pushing his decisions, Zoro instinctively reached for his favorite sword, Wado Ichimonji, and drew it. Flipping the katana in his hand so the blade was facing upwards, Zoro plunged his left arm, holding the katana, into the boulder as he spun. Using his momentum, Zoro flung himself up on to the boulder. Quickly scanning his new surroundings, Zoro saw a couple more boulders similar to the one he was standing on falling above him. Zoro decided that if he couldn't stop his descent, he could at least slow it down so that Robin's arms could catch up to him. The light continuously waning, Zoro leapt from his position on the boulder towards the others above him. Using Wado Ichimonji as he landed on each boulder to prevent him from knocking the boulders away, Zoro continued to leap from boulder to boulder. After he landed on the last possible boulder, Zoro jumped with all of his might towards his nakama's arms and was finally able to grab a hold of her forearm with his right hand.

After he grabbed on to Robin's arm, the growing line of arms immediately stopped and nearly dislocated Zoro's right shoulder. Grimacing in pain, Zoro focused only on keeping his hold firm on Robin's arm and not letting go. After a moment, the arms started to recede into each other and a resounding crash could be heard from below as the boulders' fall finally came to an end. Breathing a sigh of relief to himself and grateful his body wasn't among the things making a crashing noise, Zoro looked up to where Robin was. Startled at the sight, Zoro noticed that all he could see, aside from the line of arms pulling him upwards, was a glimmer of light from where he fell. It was then that Zoro realized that Robin must have thrown her torch down the hole in order to keep his surroundings illuminated and to cross both of her arms in concentration. He had really fallen much further than he had originally thought. After another minute, Zoro saw the much welcomed sight of Robin's face and eventually found himself standing on solid ground again.

Breathing heavily with his arms on his knees, Zoro looked up to see that Robin wasn't in much better condition than he was. Her face, tired and worn, was covered in sweat and one of her eyes was half closed, presumably the one she was using to see where Zoro was. Zoro stood up straight and began to rotate his right arm to try and loosen it up. "Phew, that was a pretty close one. Thanks, you saved me there."

Matching his gaze, Robin rubbed her right arm and put on a weary but genuine smile. "Pretty close? Kenshi-san, in case you hadn't noticed, I was unable to sprout any more arms when you finally grabbed on. I think that's the epitome of 'as close as possible'." Her smile growing a little wider, Robin tilted her head to the side. "Aside from your arm, you're ok though, right?"

Smirking back at his savior, Zoro laughed slightly. "Yeah, this isn't anything too bad. It'll be fine after a couple of minutes. What about your arm, though? You've been nursing it since you brought me back up."

Looking down at her right arm, Robin unclasped her left hand from the arm and presented it to Zoro. It was a slight dark shade of red and was already showing signs of bruising. "Like you, it's nothing too dire, just a little sore from the impact. The thing about my Hana Hana no Mi power is that any damage my replicated body parts take, my real ones take too. The impact of catching you is such an example."

Looking back down at the pit, Zoro scratched the back of his head. "Sorry that you got hurt... How far did I fall? It sure took an awful long time to get back on the ground after you started pulling me up."

Robin walked up next to him and looked down also. "It's hard to say. At most, I can sprout around 200 limbs at once. I've never really tried it before, and it was difficult enough concentrating on the arms and eyes together for such a long period of time. If I had to guess, though, I would say a little more than 200 feet."

Zoro whistled as he nudged a sitting rock by his foot into the pit. "Wow, that's quite a fall. I wonder what's at the bottom, though I guess I almost found out." Looking ahead at where he was walking to earlier, Zoro saw that the hole in front of him was a perfect square from every edge. Looking across to the other side, Zoro gauged that it was around a 15 foot gap from where he stood and where the other edge began. "I don't think the ground breaking apart was accidental."

"Yes, it appears to have been an old trap laid long ago. When you stepped on that one stone, it must have caused something that shattered the support for the ground. Though I think it wouldn't have mattered if you didn't step on that particular stone. The ground looked like it was ready to give way at any moment regardless. I was trying to tell you before you fell in but I didn't have a chance to say anything."

"That would explain why there were all of those perfectly shaped boulders falling with me, then. Well, we aren't getting any closer to the eye by standing here, let's continue. Are you going to need some help crossing the gap?" Zoro asked pointedly.

Robin turned to the swordsman and crossed her arms in confusion. "Cross the gap? What would we do that for, there's a second path over there." Robin pointed at the split in the path that Zoro had ignored earlier. "Also, I thought you wanted to get out of the tomb, why did you suddenly change your mind?"

Unfazed by the barrage of questions, Zoro continued to stare at the gap before him. "I did want to get out earlier, you're right. But now that we're so close to the treasure, I can't just back out now, can I?"

Still not understanding what the swordsman was talking about and having a distinct desire to know more, Robin pressed on. "What makes you think we're so close to the treasure? And for that matter, why do you think it's in the direction of the trap that just nearly killed you?"

Zoro turned back towards the archeologist and rested his arms on his katana. "Think about it, if you didn't want people to go a certain direction in a tomb like this, you would create multiple paths. Then you would make a trap that deters people from the direction you don't want them to go. Or at least that's what I would do." Zoro then looked to his side in the direction of the path in question and grew a sinister smile. "As for how I know the eye is down there? I can feel it, it feels… cursed. Sandai Kitetsu has been howling ever since you brought me back up here."

Startled by the swordsman's sudden change in character, Robin looked down the same path. He did have a point, Robin though to herself, there was a certain feeling of wrongness emanating from that direction. "So you can feel them? Your swords, that is. How interesting."

Continuing to look ahead, Zoro emitted a small chuckle. "I bet you think I'm crazy. I don't know how to explain it, but I can feel what each of these swords do."

Shaking her head, Robin replaced the confused look on her face with her usual smile. "Not at all, I've actually read that swordsmen who treat their blades with reverence and respect can feel their emotions. I guess you could attribute the same concept as Merry and replace it with your katana."

Taking his turn to tease the archeologist, Zoro looked at her arrogantly. "Oh, _is that so?_ Does that mean you've taken an interest in my goals then, Robin? Reading books about swordsmanship seems very unlike you."

Robin put on a façade of confidence to hide her obvious embarrassment at the question. Returning the arrogant stare of the swordsman with a slightly belittling one, Robin shrugged. "I suppose it's like you said, Kenshi-san. Hang around a person enough and their own desires and ambitions get mixed in with yours. As for crossing the gap, I would have to agree with your deduction, the eye must be in that direction."

As Zoro was about to ask if the raven haired archeologist needed help crossing the gap again, Robin crossed her arms and called out "Treinta Fleur". The familiar light xylophone noise returned as arms began to sprout by the ledge Robin was standing at to the other side, forming a bridge. As Robin walked across Zoro shrugged his shoulders and walked back from the gap to get space. When he felt he had enough, Zoro began running towards the hole and easily cleared it.

With both of them on the other side, Zoro and Robin continued down the path towards what they knew to be the staircase from the painting. Rubbing her right arm again, Robin looked over at the green haired swordsman; on his face was a look of determination and confidence. It was actually comforting to Robin, knowing that the person walking next to her was reliable for the current situation.

When Robin returned her look to the path ahead, Zoro grabbed a torch off of the wall and took his turn looking at the raven haired archeologist. She wore collected and calculated expression. It was calming to the swordsman to know that the archeologist was independent and self-sufficient. It was a rare trait to see in people lately, especially in women.

After a while, the two companions finally made it to the end of the path. What they saw caused Zoro to drop the torch he was holding and Robin to stare with her eyes and mouth wide open. A ray of sunlight shining through a small hole reflected off of an enormous diamond the size of a large fist sitting on the top of an altar. The diamond reflected light in a manner that made the room appear to be filled with hazy moonlight.

Still standing in awe, both Zoro and Robin failed to notice the dropped torch lighting a taught piece of rope directly in front of their feet on fire. As soon as Zoro began to recognize the smell of something burning, the rope snapped and from behind the two grave robbers something large slackened from the ceiling.

_Ending note: I have to be honest, I'm not too sure how I feel about how this chapter turned out. If it was uninteresting, I apologize. I've been thinking a lot about the arc idea I mentioned earlier and I think it will turn out a lot better since I'll be planning on how to write it rather than sitting down and just writing until I feel I can safely stop somewhere. After all, I had to get Zoro out of that hole he's been falling in for two chapters and I feel like I've been dragging them getting to the main room for too long now. Hopefully the next chapter will make up for it as I can safely say (I hope) that __actual__ action/fighting sequences will definitely be a lot of the focus. Once again, thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review! Let me know what you really think, I always strive to get better and I want to make genuinely interesting stories. So if you think it sucked, say so! (at least give me one reason why though lol) Also, I don't know if the noise made in the show is really what is heard by the characters, but for the sake of it let's go with they can hear it. _


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I may sound like a broken record, but I appreciate every review you guys give me. I should be honest though; this story was never intended to be more than 3 chapters, 4 at most. In my head, it was solely going to focus on Zoro and Robin, starting with them inside the tomb, having a fight at the center, and then getting out (basically why there was no back story to how they got there). The main purpose behind the story was to practice writing 'in character' stories while going beyond what would normally be canon and also to work on my abilities on writing fights. Now that we're on chapter 4 already and I haven't even got to the fight I was planning, Burichifan brings up a good point that I haven't been using the rest of the crew really even though they're directly involved (which wasn't intended at first). While I would love to adapt the story to fit in the rest of the crew, the truth is the plot is too shallow to allow it without their addition coming across as forced and out of place. That's not to say they won't be appearing anymore, it certainly isn't the case, just that until I finish this story we're just going to stick with Zoro and Robin. Sorry if that's disappointing, but I really want to wrap this story up nicely so I can focus on the arc (which is coming along very well, I really think you guys will enjoy it).

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Without hesitation, Zoro threw his body into Robin and knocked her to the ground. Protecting her body with his own, Zoro turned his head around to see what the trap had sprung. Sure enough, a cylindrical chunk of stone swung by harmlessly across the room. Confused at how "deadly" the latest trap was, Zoro couldn't help but wonder if there was something else headed their way. Continuing to cover Robin, Zoro furiously scanned the area for any other possible threats, he found none. It was at the apex of the swordsman's confusion that he heard a loud thumping noise, followed by a snap and then finally another thud and something hit the ground. The enormous space became enveloped in darkness, leaving only the swordsman and the archeologist illuminated by the dropped torch's light, and the slim ray of light coming from the roof of the room.

Looking down at his companion, Zoro finally came to the realization of the way he had pinned her down, though she didn't seem nearly half as bothered as he was about it. "Thanks, Kenshi-san. I think the danger has passed, you can get up now if you'd like."

Zoro quickly threw himself to the side and stood up, taking the torch in his hand again. Zoro started brushing off dirt from his pants while Robin stood up and observed the situation. "It appears that the diamond eye was knocked off of its resting area by that pillar, which would explain the sudden lack of light."

Zoro, satisfied with the condition of his pants, looked back to Robin. "Yeah, you're right, I also heard the chain the pillar was attached to snap, that's what the following noises were after the diamond was knocked off. Something is odd about that trap, even if the pillar had swung back this way a second time, there wouldn't have been any real threat posed by it. You would think that there would be something more… dangerous right by the diamond."

Robin nodded her head in agreement, pondering the same mystery as the swordsman. "Although… it did take away almost all of the light from this room, perhaps there is more to this trap than at first glance. We should proceed with extreme caution."

Not needing to be told that twice, Zoro began waving his torch around to see if there were any more devious mechanisms lying around. "It's too bad the last torches we saw were back at that hole, we should have brought more than one with us."

Sill not completely satisfied with his search but worried about what may yet come, Zoro decided that it would be a waste of time to look any longer and began walking to the altar with Robin behind him following closely. It was when they completely entered the vast chamber, leaving the hallway behind, that something else began to move.

Deciding that being lax was no longer a safe option; Zoro placed the torch sideways in his mouth with the flame as far away as he could get it to his right and proceeded to draw two of his swords, Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri. Robin felt incredulous at his decision to place the torch in his mouth. "Kenshi-san, let me hold the torch, you're going to burn yourself that way."

Even though Robin was right as Zoro could feel small burns starting to form, he refused to hand over the torch. "You need both of your arms to concentrate, Robin. There's something coming and it's going to take both of our strength to get out of here alive. Visibility is a problem, but if we stay together, it's something we can overcome. If I hold the torch, it makes it easier for you to react to the situation which is going to be a hell of a lot more useful than I would be. First thing is first, we need to restore light to this room." Still wanting to take the torch from Zoro but understanding his point, Robin responded affirmatively and stayed close to the swordsman, prepared to act at a moment's notice.

Slowly but steadily heading to the altar to locate the missing diamond, the two grave robbers grew tenser with each step they took. Looking to their left, the pair saw the swinging pillar that had broken laying on the ground, the chain still attached to it. Making it to the staircase, the two companions finally started ascending the staircase and as they made it halfway up, a large, unknown creature leapt from behind the altar towards the two.

Preservation of himself and his companion overcoming his senses, Zoro reacted with pure instinct. Turning to the side, Zoro raised both of his arms to his right side with his right hand behind his head. With a deep breath, the words "Nitoryu, 76 Pound Cannon!" subconsciously and loudly came from his lips as Zoro focused all of his strength into slicing at the air. Pulling both blades powerfully to his left across his body, Zoro created two gales of energy that swirled around each other as they barreled towards their target.

Already moving towards the duo in midair, the unidentified creature had no chance to avoid the oncoming attacks. The two gales of energy met with full force at the creature's center and shredded it to pieces. Zoro squatted down and shielded his face with his hands so that the blood from the assailant wouldn't get into his eyes or anywhere else important. Oddly enough, instead of feeling the familiar sensation of warm liquid covering him, the swordsman found himself being pelted with gravel and other small chunks of rubble.

Sheathing his swords, Zoro took the torch from his mouth and retreated down the staircase to inspect his recent attacker. Looking at the head, the first things Zoro noticed were the cracks and pieces of the face missing; whatever had attacked them was made of stone and looked mostly like a ceremonial statue. Putting the obvious question aside, Zoro continued his examination. The statue's face had canine features; a snout stuck out from the face and a long pair of pointy ears accompanied it. The face was mostly black; however there was golden lining around the lifeless, inanimate eyes of the statue and along the edges of the ears. Proceeding to inspect the rest of the body, Zoro was unable to notice any other features from the creature aside from its arms. Anything below the neck was mostly unintelligible since the attack severed the body and lower half had landed elsewhere.

Looking at the arms, Zoro saw similar traits to the head in that most of it was black stone with various golden linings decorating them, most notably a golden armlet and bracelet. Examining the hands, Zoro was startled to discover the extremely sharp looking, claw-like fingers that had been coated with dried layers of blood. Had they met his or Robin's body as was their intention, Zoro had no doubt that it would have done some serious damage.

Still uncertain on certain aspects of the creature, Zoro could think only to look at Robin for answers. Almost as if she knew what he was expecting, Robin stopped examining the body as well and looked at Zoro. "As I'm sure you've already gathered, this creature was made of stone, however impossible that sounds. Also just as crazy, I believe this to be a ceremonial statue that was commonly buried with rulers of certain civilizations. What I don't know is how it's able to move. Speaking of civilizations, though, does this statue look familiar to you?" Robin appeared to look expectant of Zoro.

Looking at the statue again, Zoro suddenly realized what he hadn't before. "The painting! This thing is the same as those creatures from that painting we saw earlier in the tomb."

"Yes, you're right. These are the same creatures that were on the painting we discovered earlier. There is one thing that bothers me, however." Robin turned back to the statue and began to rub her chin with her hand. "There was only one of these that attacked us, but on the mural they were larger in number…"

"Which means there are likely more of these damn things running around…" Zoro finished Robin's thought. "Shit, I hope the others are ok, who knows what else is in this forsaken place. Anyways, first things first, we need light, let's go." Zoro began his ascent up the staircase again and Robin followed him suit.

"Oh Kenshi-san, look at your cheek, it's burned!" Robin called out suddenly as the two were near the top. It was then Zoro felt the pain in his right cheek. Rubbing it tenderly, Zoro decided that it wasn't too bad and if it was anything worse Chopper would take care of it. "Here, let me take a look at it," Robin continued.

Stopping suddenly with a grunt, Zoro looked back nervously to the raven haired archeologist and saw she wore a concerned look on her face. Not one to deny a worried nakama, Zoro silently agreed by turning around and presenting his burnt cheek. Robin walked up and looked closely at Zoro's cheek, rubbing it softly with her hands to check for blisters or other skin damage; there was none.

"That's good; it appears to only be a first degree burn at worst, you should be more careful with that torch next time, Kenshi-san." Robin removed her hand and as Zoro looked back at Robin she responded with a smile. Zoro was startled when the smile Robin had just had disappeared with another look of concern. "Wait, your other side is red, too. Don't tell me you managed to burn both sides of your faces with that torch, Kenshi-san! Let me take another look."

As Robin reached up to inspect the side of his face that Zoro knew wasn't burnt, he decided he'd had enough and wanted to completely avoid the archeologist discovering the truth.

"It's fine, really." Turning around quickly and walking up the staircase again, Zoro managed to successfully prevent Robin from finding out that he had been blushing. He couldn't be seen as weak, especially not to her.

Finally reaching the top of the staircase, it became apparent that it wasn't just a single, wide staircase that led to the top, but rather a large circular staircase that surrounded the altar. Looking down the other side, Zoro saw that the large diamond was almost to the bottom. "Oi, Robin, there's the diamond. See if you can get it up here so we can get some light back to this room."

"Ok, just a moment." Robin crossed her arms and began to concentrate. "Treinta Fleur," Robin called out and arms started sprouting on each stair heading towards the diamond. Finally, the last arm grabbed the hulking diamond and began to relay it up the staircase towards the two. When it reached the top, Robin picked it up and placed it back on the receptacle under the light after examining it slightly.

Brilliant light filled the room again and both companions had to squint their eyes at the sudden explosion of radiance. Looking back towards where they came, Zoro nearly dropped the torch down the staircase at what he saw. There, at the edge of the room by the only exit, stood four more of the menacing guardian statues, all of them poised to attack.

_Ending note: Ok so the focus on fighting was a little lost on this chapter, but at least I had some, right? Besides, this cliffhanger came to my mind and it was wayyyy too tempting to resist using it. I can say without a shadow of a doubt, however, that there will be plenty of fighting next chapter, so hopefully that will turn out well. I'm much happier with how this chapter turned out in comparison to the last one, so I still think the story can end strongly which is good since I was a little worried that it was too shallow to pull off. Anyways, I've basically decided on everything I want to do on the arc I've been mentioning, so there probably won't be any polls. The only stuff left for me to do is finish making the storyline/series of events, the new characters/villains, and their powers (I know the abilities, just need to come up with fighting styles, strengths, and weaknesses). So, you know, basically all of the hard stuff. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and who knows, maybe I'll fit in an extra update this Wednesday to make up for the lack of action in this one (not a promise, but I'll try)._


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I had been waiting to do this for a while, but it wasn't until this chapter that I had a chance to mention it. I generally write my stories pretty late at night and upload them when I finish so that they can be up earlier in the day (I don't proofread that thoroughly because I'm pretty tired by that point). As a result, there may be certain errors in the typing and I might leave out smaller details that I intended to have earlier but forgot (speaking of, chapter 4 was horrible with those; I apologize and have fixed it to my satisfaction, I'll be more careful from now on). I bring this up because I'll be going back to previous chapters occasionally and editing certain aspects of them so that it feels like a more complete product. I won't change them drastically, if even at all, so there won't be a need to look through them again if you don't want to. Like I said, it will be minor corrections and additions to the surroundings to clear things up that appear later on. Anyways, enjoy this next chapter and please let me know how you think my fighting skills are for writing, any criticism/praise is extremely appreciated.

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The two grave robbers were unsure of how to react to the situation. They had been standing there for at least two minutes, staring down the four guardian statues that blocked the exit to the chamber. Neither party had moved and it had become apparent to Zoro and Robin that they were going to have to make the first move.

Gripping the torch in his hand tighter out of frustration, Zoro swore under his breath. He didn't reach for his swords yet out of fear that it would trigger their adversary's attack. "This doesn't look good, looks like they're waiting for us to make a move."

"Perhaps they are, but I doubt it," the archeologist replied. Robin crossed her arms and rested her head on her hand, rubbing her chin as well. "They have the advantage in numbers; I see no reason to why they haven't attacked yet."

"What makes you say that?" the green haired swordsman inquisitively responded as he raised one of his eyebrows.

"Think back to our last assailant, it had no problem charging the two of us when the opportunity presented itself. Not to mention that was when it was fighting the two of us alone, I find it hard to believe that the others over there are any different from the first. It must have something to do with this diamond." Robin gestured to the large diamond that was resting in between the two companions.

"What should we do then? If you ask me, I'd bet that they start charging us the moment we start to do anything other than stand still. If it's a waiting game, there's no question in who would win." Having made his point, the swordsman looked around to see if there were any other hidden exits that may have opened recently. Finding none, Zoro looked back to the only exit. The only objects of interest were the pillar lying on the ground with the broken chain attached to it and the remaining link of chain hanging from the ceiling halfway across the room in the middle. It was around seven to ten feet off of the ground, the swordsman wagered.

"I'm not too sure, while they may not, I agree in that we should prepare for the worst. What about you, have an idea of what to do next?"

"Only one, really, but it's going to require you holding the torch." Zoro looked at the raven haired archeologist to make sure she was ok with the conditions. When she looked at him and nodded, Zoro continued. "Since they have the advantage right now, we need to even the odds. If we can make it back to the hallway we came from, we can drastically lower the area for them to move around in and hopefully force them to fight us one or two at a time. I'll try to distract them with a 108 pound cannon attack and then we'll make a break for the hallway."

"Better than nothing, I suppose. Hand me the torch." Robin took the torch from Zoro and began to think of a way to fight the statues. There must be some weakness to them, she thought, one that could be exploited. Although it may suit the green haired swordsman just fine, brute force never sat right with the archeologist. She always preferred the more elegant methods of fighting, using an opponent's oversights and weakness to her advantage. It wasn't that she was weak, certainly not; it was that she felt that strength alone couldn't solve every problem you came across, so she got into the habit of fighting more situational. That way, even in the worst of circumstances, there was some way for her skills and powers to be effective.

That was the main problem with this predicament, however. Being made of stone, there was no viable attack that Robin could think of to fight the statues. After all, how many times do you fight statues? All things considered, Robin felt that she was going to a burden to the swordsman if anything and that there wasn't much she could do. Forcing the thought out of her mind and berating herself for thinking of such a thing, Robin focused intently on finding some sort of weakness to exploit. There had to be a catch to these animated statues, but what was it?

Oblivious to his companions dilemma and free from the torch, Zoro drew all three of his swords and proceeded to place Wado Ichimonji in his mouth with the blade sticking out to his right. Looking at the four adversaries, Zoro saw that none of them were blocking the exit directly. It was a shame, Zoro thought to himself; he had hoped to take at least one of the damn statues out with his attack, but it was more important to clear the way so he decided to aim in the direct middle.

Repeating the same motions from earlier, Zoro raised both of his arms to his right side and had his right hand even higher behind his head. This attack had to be stronger than normal, he decided, so the swordsman began to prep himself and closed his eyes. Breathing in deeply and exhaling rapidly, the green haired swordsman found a tempo that he was able to concentrate on. Control over his body was control over his power, and preparing for an attack was no light manner.

Reaching a point of serenity, Zoro's eyes flared open and he roared as he brought his arms across his body and turned his head in an explosion of power. Large squalls erupted from the edges of his blades and began to arc down the staircase towards the four guardians. The slice from Wado Ichimonji desperately tried to expand into a wider bend but was kept encased in a small radius by the other two blades' attacks circling it furiously, serving only to make the strength behind the squalls increasingly stronger. Catching the last couple of stairs, the squalls of energy from Zoro's attack ripped them apart as it barreled towards the four statues at break-neck speed. The stairs weren't the only thing destroyed as the attack sundered the ground it traversed and caught the pillar lying on the ground from the trap by the chain. A link of the newly severed chain was dragged into the epicenter of the attack while the pillar was cast to the side.

As Zoro's attack reached the evenly divided guardians, both pairs jumped away from the center of the attack. A few weren't fast enough in their escape and one lost a leg while the other lost an arm to the squall's assault. With the chain swirling around inside, the attack was thrown off course after it passed the statues and it severely curved into the ground, tearing the floor even more and leaving the chain slightly embedded inside.

The second the slices had left Zoro's blade, Robin had burst into a full-blown sprint towards the hallway they came from. Ignoring her green haired companion for the moment, Robin sought only to make it to the designated spot without trouble. Avoiding any obstructions thrown her way from the attack, Robin continued to make her way towards her objective. When the guardians leapt away, a slight smile appeared on her lips as the plan made by Zoro seemed to be working splendidly. Checking to see where he was behind her, Robin saw that he wasn't where she expected. In fact, he wasn't even anywhere near her at all. Looking back to the altar which was well behind her now, Robin saw the swordsman finally begin his descent down the stairs and towards the hallway.

When Robin was merely feet away from the corridor, the statue that had lost its arm, the left arm specifically, had recovered faster than she anticipated and began an assault on the raven haired archeologist from behind. Turning around as gracefully as she could and proceeding to run backwards, the archeologist threw the torch down, crossed her arms, and began to concentrate on stopping her adversary only to have her foot catch on the chain embedded in the ground. Lunging at Robin and swiping its right arm at her head, the armless statue barely missed when she fell backwards, instead grazing the left side of her face. The statue tumbled along the ground as it landed.

Blood running down from a newly formed cut above her eye, Robin stood up quickly and turned to where the statue landed. This was bad, she was separated from the swordsman and with the latest attack from the statue she had become surrounded on either side, within the corridor, no less. It seemed the swordsman's plan had backfired in that they were separated and surrounded, the exact opposite of the intention. Wiping blood from her left eye, Robin crossed her arms and prepared for the statue's next offensive, only it didn't rise from the ground.

Confused by the newest development, the raven haired archeologist decided to ignore the fallen guardian and turned to the room where the rest were, prepared for another ambush. There was no statue chasing after her or in the hallway, however. Actually, the archeologist noted, they appeared to be holding their ground at the very edge of the room, around where the hallway began. Could this be their weakness? It was the only explanation Robin could come up with, and it would certainly clear up why her first opponent had tumbled when it landed and didn't rise again. Almost as if confirming it, the other three statues that had once been looking for her diverted their attention to the approaching swordsman. This was perfect, Robin decided; she would be able to support the swordsman from where she was without him having to worry about her.

Running to the outskirts of the hallway without entering the room, Robin saw the green haired swordsman spinning clockwise in midair with his blades circling with him. Two of the remaining statues that had directed their attacks to the swordsman were shredded to pieces from the onslaught of slices. Zoro landed in a pouncing position with his right arm raised behind him and his left hand, knuckles against the ground, supporting the front of his weight. Unbeknownst to him, the last guardian, the one missing its left leg, was attacking from his left side. Robin called out "Seis Fleur" and six hands sprouted from the ground, grabbing the last statues left arm causing it to flip on its back right in front of the swordsman. Robin dismissed the arms after it landed.

"Leopard Recovery" was yelled by the green haired swordsman as he pushed off of the ground forcefully with his left hand, flipping him about. Swinging his right arm across his body as he spun up, Zoro created another gale that easily sliced the debilitated statue in half and he landed solidly on both of his feet.

Walking towards his companion, Zoro noticed that she didn't move out of the hallway into the room. "What are you standing there for? We need to go back up to the staircase and grab that diamond and get out of here as soon as possible. There's no way in hell I'm going through all of this for nothing."

Picking up the discarded torch, Robin looked towards the swordsman. "I'm not sure why, but for whatever reason these things can't exit the premises of this room." Gesturing to the statue behind her, Robin continued, "If they do, they revert back to being a normal decoration."

"So basically, I should get the diamond and you'll support me from there if it's needed? Well, at least it's a better plan than mine was. I've been wondering though, where do these damn things keep coming from?" Zoro began looking around and was shocked to discover the large holes in the ceiling. How had he not noticed them earlier? Cursing himself under his breath, Zoro decided too late to make a run for the diamond when more Anubis statues began to surface from behind the staircase.

"Talk about hindsight, looks like we should have just grabbed the diamond and turned tail earlier. You said they can't get to you, right? How about we finish this and get the hell out of here, eh, Robin?" The swordsman grabbed his katana in preparation.

Crossing her arms in response, Robin nodded. "Very well, I'll do what I can. All you have to do is get the diamond and get back here, fighting them isn't necessary. Do only what you must and fight only what you have to."

Zoro charged the altar.

_Ending note: Hah, I feel pretty good about this chapter. What do you guys think? Its 3:30 right now, so I'm going to get some sleep then I'll proofread it in the morning. Even though it will be up later than normal, I don't want a repeat of the sloppiness of chapter 4. Anyways, I'm happy to say that the fight is ending up being longer than I thought it would be. It will end next chapter, but it should at least be a large chunk of it. In regards to the story, I foresee probably around 1-2 more chapters and an epilogue that will lead into the next arc I'm planning. If I do manage to fit an extra update this Wednesday, there's a chance that it may not be the usual length (probably going to be that way for any extra updates I add, won't cause problems though, of that I'll make sure). Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to bringing you the next one as soon as I can. Crap, I just realized that Yubashiri is supposed to have been rusted away from Enies Lobby, but let's just overlook that, shall we?_


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Welp, I didn't get around to the update on Wednesday, sorry about that. Aside from being a little lazy, what I had planned on writing for the mini-update felt like it could be injected at a much better time in the story, so that's what I'll do. Anyways, what was originally intended to be in this fight scene didn't feel like it would be that substantial, so I began thinking of ways to make it more elaborate and interesting. I'm very happy to say that I was able to effectively add on to what I had planned and it should definitely take up most if not all of this chapter. I feel very satisfied with this chapter and hopefully it shows and I really think you guys will like it.

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Looking up at the altar as he ran, Zoro counted five more Anubis statues getting ready to leap at him. Zoro gripped his katana and was about to draw them in the normal fashion when he noticed the pillar attached to the chain not far from his left. An idea forming in his head, the green haired swordsman abandoned his initial charge to the altar and changed his course towards the former trap.

When Zoro made it to the chain connected to the stone pillar, the guardian statues decided to act. One overzealous defender charged headfirst towards Zoro and leapt high into the air in his direction while the rest split into pairs that began to flank him from either side. Deciding to avoid the airborne attacker first, Zoro picked up the chain and jumped backwards with it in his hands, dragging the pillar with him and it moved directly under the statue's course.

Concentrating in the background, Robin called out "Seis Fleur" and arms began sprouting out of the airborne statue. Sprouting two arms of her own for each of the statue's arms, the raven haired archeologist used as much strength as she could muster to clamp the arms of the Anubis statue behind its back. Succeeding in her task, the recently restricted arms caused a momentum shift that began to make the statue do a back flip. Sprouting two more arms in the middle of the guardian's back, Robin had each grab on to one shoulder and forcibly pull it backwards, speeding up the flip and causing the withheld statue to dive headfirst towards the pillar on the ground.

Its fervent attack becoming its downfall, the statue could do nothing as it crashed forcefully into the pillar, embedding and losing its head in the pillar as it fell limply to the ground. The impact did not leave the pillar unharmed, however, as cracks began visibly appearing from where the head was rooted into it.

Able to focus on the rest of the assailants, Zoro gripped the chain he held as tightly as he could and yelled as he tugged the chain and started swinging the pillar to his left. Completing almost an entire rotation, the four remaining defenders had little chance to react as the pillar made quick work of them, smashing each to pieces when it connected.

Zoro felt a sudden surge of intense pain shoot through his body originating from his right shoulder. Grunting loudly in agony, the green haired swordsman lost his grip on the chain as the pillar almost finished the rotation and sent it flying towards the staircase. The injury from the fall re-emerging in full force, Zoro clutched his right shoulder with his left arm as it throbbed with pain and watched the pillar smash into the staircase and roll back down. The pillar halfway between him and the staircase now, Zoro deduced that it would be easier to reach the diamond through the air rather than ascending the beaten staircase.

Looking up, the swordsman cursed his luck as another statue stood next to the diamond. Not deterring him from his goal, the swordsman began to sprint towards the stone pillar on the ground and the statue lunged at him. Failing to notice the extensive damage the pillar had incurred during his previous attack, Zoro jumped on the pillar and used it as a platform to gain a higher altitude over his new adversary only to have the pillar crumble underneath him as he leapt. His jump gimped from the now broken pillar, Zoro began helplessly heading straight into the guardian's attack without any of his swords drawn. Just as they were about to collide, Zoro felt a hand grab his back collar violently as it pulled him backwards in midair. Not anticipating the sudden change of its target's position, the guardian clawed at where Zoro's head should have been only to instead hit air. The two flew by each other and Zoro landed painfully on his back almost completely up the staircase.

Having barely saved her companion, Robin turned her attention to the airborne defender. The torch being held by an extra hand on the wall next to her, Robin crossed her arms and called out "Treinta Fleur". Two lines of hands began sprouting from the ceiling a little ahead of the statue while two extra lines began growing upwards off of its shoulders. The lines of hands clasping each other from the ceiling to the shoulders, Robin swung the statue towards her location. The raven haired archeologist then dismissed the arms before any damage could be done to them. The statue with its trajectory changed could do nothing as it ricocheted off of a pillar above Robin and fell lifeless to the ground behind her. Dust and debris from the collision began to lightly pelt Robin.

Having recovered from his fall, Zoro began to ascend the rest of the staircase with his swords all drawn and in their usual places; he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. Trudging through the pain, Zoro finally made it back up to the top of the altar, and more importantly, the diamond. He had considered what to do about the problem regarding illumination; a problem because when the diamond was removed there would be no light except from the small hole in the roof and the torch Robin now had. It was that small hole Zoro was counting on. If there was some light in from above, surely there could be more released if there wasn't a ceiling to prevent it.

Zoro squatted down slightly and got himself in a stable position. "Santoryu," the swordsman began as he readied his swords. Wado Ichimonji in his mouth pointing to the left, his left hand holding the sword across his body, and his right hand holding its blade outwards, Zoro finished the incantation with "Tornado!" as he punched the air with his left hand while rotating his body. Gales similar to those released by his cannon attack swiftly burst vertically into the air and towards the ceiling. The ceiling, weary from countless years of supporting its weight, made no effort to stop the aerial attack as the gales tore through the rock. Having aimed the attack so no debris would land on him, the swordsman turned his attention to the enormous diamond in front of him only to be blinded by a sudden surge of intense light.

The raven haired archeologist had a vague idea of what the swordsman was going to do, seeing as how he favored the use of direct force in solving a problem. What she didn't know was how drastic his actions would be. Robin figured that the swordsman would destroy the roof of the room to illuminate his path, but she never thought that he would overlook the diamond. If one small ray of light could reflect off of the diamond and light the entire chamber, imagine what would happen if a large amount of light were to meet the large gemstone. When Zoro unleashed his latest attack, the archeologist reacted as quickly as she could by sprouting an arm near the diamond and shoving it off of its resting place. It was too little too late, however, as Robin was not quick enough and she saw her companion howl in agony as brilliant light erupted from the mobile diamond, causing the sword in his mouth to drop to the ground.

The surge of light disappearing as quickly as it had arrived, Zoro was left temporarily blinded and extremely dazed. In his delirious fervor, Zoro awkwardly walked around with his hands feeling in front of him looking for his dropped katana. Unable to locate it, Zoro unexpectedly fell to the ground as a hand gripped his ankle mid-step. Hitting the ground hard and slamming his head into the stone, Zoro tasted blood in his mouth and closed his eyes in renewed pain. Not oblivious to his senses, Zoro realized that the archeologist had saved his life yet again as he was able to tell that what he assumed to be another guardian had passed by him. When he opened his eyes again, Zoro was relieved when he was greeted with vision even though it was still blurry.

Scanning the area for his missing sword with his returning vision, Zoro saw it resting towards the bottom of the staircase just slightly ahead of his newest foe. Keeping his blades gripped tightly in his grasp, Zoro looked to see where the large diamond was as well. He saw it being relayed by a line of arms towards his companion's location. That was good, he thought to himself, since now all that was left was him getting to the hallway and hauling ass out of the tomb.

His vision now fully returned and the room fully lit with the new light, Zoro watched in exasperation as he saw scores more statues come out of holes in the ceiling right by the hallway. His adversary beginning a new assault as it charged up the battered staircase towards him, Zoro decided it would be simpler to just completely avoid fighting and make a run for the hallway.

Sheathing his swords in their proper hilts, Zoro leapt over the guardian as it reached him and began sliding down the gap created by his 108 pound cannon from earlier. Zoro clasped Wado Ichimonji in his left hand as he reached the bottom and started running to the corridor. Dodging attacks from multiple defenders as he ran, Zoro saw a group of arms making something similar to a platform in front of him. Looking up, the swordsman saw the familiar sight of the hanging chain and realized that it was a platform for him to leap off of. Zoro sheathed Wado Ichimonji and leapt from the arm formation. Grabbing the chain that the pillar used to be attached to, Zoro swung towards the hallway until the link of chain he held to snapped under his weight as it had the pillar.

Zoro could do nothing but fall towards a group of statues under him instead of the safe parameters of the corridor until one of Robin's arms clasped his own in a firm grip. Sprouting from the bottom of the chain, Robin kept a tight grip on the swordsman and swung him the rest of the distance, only letting go when she was sure his momentum would carry him the rest of the distance. She picked up the torch with her left hand and proceeded to run with the swordsman after he picked up the diamond as fast and far as they possibly could away from the chamber.

The two grave robbers continued to run until they felt certain they had reached a point of security. Panting while they caught their breath, the two companions looked at each other and began shakily laughing. It wasn't until then that Zoro noticed something dripping down his right arm. Raising it up and looking at it, Zoro was greeted by the sight of blood on part of his forearm and hand, the only problem being that it wasn't his own. Looking to his companion, Zoro saw that she was hiding her right arm behind her back.

"Oi, let me see your right arm," Zoro commanded. Looking slightly meek, the raven haired archeologist didn't move. "Robin, this blood isn't mine," Zoro continued as he presented her his bloodied arm, "that can only mean it's yours."

Defeated, the archeologist presented her arm for the swordsman to inspect, albeit somewhat hesitantly. Blood soaked her forearm and wrist. "It's nothing important, just some cuts here and there. Gripping stone isn't something I'm very used to. Really, you don't have to—" Robin was cut off as Zoro grabbed her arm tenderly and inspected it closely.

Zoro tore off part of his shirt and used it as a makeshift bandage by tying it around Robin's arm. "Luckily you're right about it being smaller cuts, but you're wrong about its importance. Every wound, regardless of its size, is important and should be treated to the best extent that you can afford."

"That's surprising to hear from you. After all, who is the one that refuses to keep his bandages on or refrain from activity when heavily injured?" Robin pointedly asked.

"That's different in a way. Chopper is a great doctor and I trust his skills, so I know he patches me up sufficiently enough to begin with. Also, I'd like to think I know my own body by this point, its limitations and such. Besides, is it really such a problem that I care about my nakama?" Zoro looked at Robin with a light smile on his face and could have sworn that he saw her blush a little before she looked away to the side. "Let me hold on to the torch," he continued, "you saved my ass back in there enough times to earn a break."

The torch in his right hand and the diamond in his left, Zoro continued to walk with Robin down the hallway. The two companions walked back to the division in the path from earlier, crossing the gap along the way, and went down the untaken route. Hopefully, this new path would lead to the exit of the tomb, and not another trap.

_Ending note: Whew, that was tough. It's a lot easier imagining the fight in my head than it is transferring it into text. Regardless, I'm still pretty happy with this chapter. Most likely going to be finishing this story up next chapter, hope you guys have enjoyed it so far and I can't wait to get started on my arc. I don't know how soon I'll be getting to it, though. I'm still in the research process (learning each strawhat's fighting style and creating ones for my OC's to be added). I have around… six or so of the original characters figured out (still some work to do on them though) and a good portion of the storyline finished. My goal is to have a one piece-esque arc that feels like you're watching the show in a sense. That means there'll be the funny with the sad, the good with the bad, I hope to convey those as best as I can. Don't forget to review!_


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Blaaaaaaaargh, very sorry about missing Monday's update. It's only when you decide on a schedule that you finally learn how easy it is to break it. Aside from being rather busy with some stuff, I just never really got around to getting myself to sit down and write. Regardless, I'll make up for it by having the epilogue leading into the next story updated tomorrow (don't know how long it will be, though), should be good times. I'll mark the story completed after it. So, without further adieu and long ass author notes, here's the end to this story, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I did making it.

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The two grave robbers traversed through the newest pathway for what seemed like hours, though they knew in actuality it was closer to half of one. Zoro was in the lead again with Robin following him closely. Having learned from their previous error, Robin now carried a second torch with her left arm, her right still crudely bandaged with blood slightly dampening it.

The two had travelled in silence since the bandaging and Zoro figured that he would check up on the raven haired archeologist. Breaking the silence the two had been enjoying, Zoro looked back to Robin as he walked and asked, "How is your arm doing?"

Robin raised her arm up for inspection and Zoro noticed that for the most part the bleeding had stopped. He had replaced the first bandage quickly with another sleeve after it had soaked up most of the blood on her arm. This second bandage had small splotches of red on it, but nothing too alarming. "Its fine, thanks. I don't think I'll be able to use my powers with it for a few days, though, so hopefully we'll get out of here soon."

Nodding in agreement, the green haired swordsman continued to walk on when he was inquired about by Robin, whom he had expected to stay silent through the rest of the walk. "Kenshi-san, out of curiosity, what happened back at the tomb? You were right next to me when I started sprinting to the hallway but it wasn't until I made it that you started moving, why?"

The particular question reminded him of a previous conversation he'd had with Johnny and Yosaku back when they first travelled together. The two had asked as to why Zoro always named and called out his attacks during battle, wondering what the reason was behind it. He explained that giving names to attacks made them easier to remember and distinguish, while calling them out in battle made it easier to focus on them. A synergy between the two was required to effectively draw out the most power that was possible from each attack.

"I lost focus on the 108 pound cannon and summoned too much power for me to handle. The force from it threw me back down most of the staircase. I had to recover and climb back up before I could run after you," Zoro simply stated.

Robin wore a confused expression on her face. "That's very unlike you, Kenshi-san. I don't think I've ever seen you lose control like that." She continued to watch her companion to see if he would enlighten her as to the reason he lost his focus.

Zoro had begun tossing the diamond up and down to keep him occupied. "Yeah, it just goes to show I need more discipline and training. When we get out of here, I'm going to have to put more focus into meditation; my head has been getting too cluttered lately."

Getting most of what she had wanted, Robin pressed the swordsman further. "With what, may I ask? What's been on your mind lately, Kenshi-san?" Zoro stopped tossing the diamond and seemed to go into thought.

Thinking of the best way to put it, Zoro attempted to scratch the back of his head with the diamond, though didn't particularly succeed. "Well, we… everybody that is… have been through a lot lately. With all that's been going on, it's been getting much harder to stay clear of mind, though I don't really know why. I guess… I guess it's just that it feels like there's much more dangerous waters coming up ahead, and I'm worried that I'm not strong enough yet. Not strong enough to protect everybody… protect my nakama. That's why I have to keep training, keep getting stronger. We can't afford another set of events like Water 7. That was too taxing on our crew. I don't know if we'd be able to handle it again." After a moment's pause, Zoro began tossing the diamond again, though more forceful this time, satisfied with his answer. Each time it landed back in his hand, he clenched it in his fist, deep in thought.

A comfortable visage filled Robin's face and a small, yet mischievous smile crossed her lips as she asked her next question. "Am I one of these nakama too, Kenshi-san?" Robin half-expected the swordsman to stumble or stutter in some fashion, but he surprised her by not missing a step. "Of course, do you think any of us would have gone through what we did if that wasn't the case?"

Feeling abnormally happy with the green haired swordsman's response, Robin casually thought about how she felt about what he had just said. She was confident that she would hear the words from anyone else on the crew had she asked the same question, but there was a certain satisfaction she felt hearing it from the swordsman that she suspected she wouldn't feel from anyone else. Curious, she thought, what if there was more to this? What if she…

Robin got no further when her thoughts were interrupted by a terrified shriek from a familiar voice. "L-L-L-Luffy, let's just go back already! I'll bet that both Z-Z-Zoro and Robin are back at the ship already. C'mon, Luffy, it's too scary in here and I swear that I hear footsteps. Oi, are you even listening to me?" Both Zoro and Robin felt a wave of relief upon hearing the familiar voice of the ship's sniper, even more so from the cheerful laughter of their captain that soon followed.

"Oi, Luffy, Usopp, Franky! Where are you guys?" Zoro yelled out and began waving his torch around to look for them. Sure enough, after a minute the pair happened upon a bend in the hallway and when they came out from it they saw two of the remaining crewmates in the tomb. Luffy strode on with an aura of confidence while Usopp hid right behind him, holding Luffy by the sides as a sort of make-shift shield. Usopp's eyes lit up when he saw Zoro and Robin come into view.

"Hey guys!" Usopp began as he jumped out in front of Luffy, a grin on his face and his thumb pointing at himself. "You won't believe what we went through to get to you guys here! I had to fight over a hundred mummies single handedly while carrying this lug head and--- WOAAAAAAAH, what happened to you guys? You both look like hell! What were you doing? Were you--- WOAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH, WHAT IS THAT? IS THAT A GIANT DIAMOND? WHAT…?" Usopp's jaw nearly hung to the floor in his disbelief and immense shock.

Rather than look worried or surprised, Luffy just followed Usopp's continuing rant with another hearty laugh as he clapped Zoro on the back, hitting him on the injured shoulder in the process. Grunting in pain and becoming instantly irritated, Zoro started pulling on Luffy's cheek which stretched out with his movements. "OW, bastard, that hurt! Have a little bit more tact, would you? It's a little obvious neither Robin nor I are in great condition." Still laughing, Luffy could only respond with a light-hearted apology, though whether or not it was genuine was something everybody always pondered.

Zoro let go of Luffy's cheek and thrust the torch he was holding into Usopp, who was still asking a barrage of questions and yelling at them for not listening, glad to be free of the damned thing. Usopp frantically started hitting at his shirt where a fire started growing while cursing at Zoro. One thing still bothered the swordsman, however. There should have been a third in the group. "Where's Franky, shouldn't he be with you guys? Don't tell me you managed to get separated after being separated…" Zoro began to rub his face with his free hand as he readied himself to be told exactly what he didn't want to hear.

"He's back at the ship; we found the exit a little bit ago. He went to explain the situation to everybody and Usopp and I came back in to find you two! Now that we have, let's all go back, Nami will be glad to hear that we found the treasure." Zoro looked up from his hand, pleasantly surprised, to see Luffy wear a smile that he rarely showed. Curiously, it only came out when he managed to delight Nami in some grand way, but Zoro never put any thought into it. After all, Luffy was a rather easy person to please. "All right, lead the way."

It wasn't long until the group reached the entrance of the tomb. Abandoning the torches, the rest of the grave robbers made their way back to the Thousand Sunny. Zoro continuously ignored Luffy's plights to carry the gem, fearing that the bumbling idiot would somehow find a way to lose their precious cargo. Besides, it was clear that the only reason Luffy wanted to hold the diamond was so that he could be the one to present it to Nami. Zoro had been through too damn much to just waltz onto the ship empty handed when that demon woman was holding his debt over his head. Finally, now, Zoro would be debt free and wouldn't have to worry about paying his never-ending debt.

Reaching the ship after what seemed to be an eternity from leaving it, the four travelers walked onto it. Zoro and Robin were hailed by Chopper in his usual fashion when someone injured boarded the ship. Looking the better of the two, but not feeling it, Zoro forced Chopper to attend to the raven haired archeologist first. He felt her welcomed gaze burn into him, but Zoro managed to resist looking back and noticed his mind become clouded with questionable thoughts again. He was eager to return to his training and meditation to sort out the new thoughts, dealing with Chopper when the time came, but Zoro had one last thing to do before he went into seclusion in the crow's nest.

The large gemstone in hand, Zoro walked up to the orange haired navigator who was tending to her tangerine grove. A little annoyed that she didn't respond to him even though she knew he wanted to talk to her, Zoro thought of a way to grab her attention. "Hey, Nami. I figured you should be the one I gave this to."

Her curiosity piqued, Nami stopped watering the grove and turned to face the swordsman. The water sprinkler in her hand dropped with a resounding thud and water spilled everywhere when she beheld the diamond in her sight. Too shocked to even respond, all Nami could do was ogle the gemstone wide-eyed with a little bit of drool residing on the corner of her mouth. Finally recovering enough to move, Nami simply extended her arms, never taking her eyes off of the enormous diamond.

As Zoro began making the transfer, he saw Luffy run towards the pair out of the corner of his eye, a haunch of meat in his hand and being closely followed by the cook. Before he could react, Luffy, distracted by his pursuer, crashed into Zoro and both parties lost grip on what they were holding, sending the two objects overboard.

Leaning over the side and watching in unequaled horror, Zoro saw the diamond and piece of meat plummet towards the water. Not daring to glimpse at Nami's face, Zoro desperately thought of what to do, only being interrupted by a rubber arm stretching next to his hand. Relief set over the navigator and swordsman as Luffy stretched his arm to grab the diamond. A smile covering the captain's face signifying success, Luffy retracted his arm and pulled the haunch of meat that he had lost and began laughing as he stuffed it into his mouth.

Zoro felt completely sick to his stomach, similar to the one when he had fallen into the pit earlier. He looked to the navigator, who bore a deep red face filled with uncontrolled rage, and saw her clench her fist as tight as he'd ever seen. Veins sticking out of her fist and her face, Nami slammed down onto the back of Luffy's head with an unmatched force, the first of what Zoro knew to be many, assuming she didn't turn to him. Zoro wondered where the cook was, and saw that Sanji was nowhere to be found. As simple-minded as the cook might be, Zoro knew he wasn't a fool and figured that the cook had decided the situation was an impossible one to handle by any means. Zoro began wondering what he should do as well.

As if she read his thoughts, Nami snapped at the green haired swordsman. "Zoro, if you don't get that diamond back, I swear I will charge you the price of that diamond and you will NEVER be out of debt to me." Already halfway off of the ship when Nami mentioned him getting the diamond, Zoro felt chills run down his spine as he registered the last of her statement. As he hit the water, Zoro decided he would rather brave the Sea King infested waters searching for the diamond than remain on the deck with that woman. He did not envy his captain and Zoro wondered what had become of him as his grasp enclosed the sinking diamond and began to return to the surface.

Some time later, Zoro finished his meditation and felt himself extremely weary from his endeavors. Seeking out the spot he previously fell asleep at, Zoro found himself exasperated as he was unable to fall asleep yet again despite his exhaustion. Shifting around uncomfortably, Zoro wished to himself that he could just get some shuteye. The swordsman heard footsteps approaching and opened his eyes to see the archeologist walking towards her table in front of him with a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

Sitting down and setting up her vicinity, Robin took a large sip from the cup of coffee and yawned. Looking up from her book, the archeologist smiled at the green haired swordsman. "Some adventure we had there, eh, Zoro?"

Feeling more comfortable than before and noticeably calming down, Zoro laughed lightly. "Sure was, how's your arm?" Zoro's head began nodding and the raven haired archeologist crossed her hands as she leaned forward to respond. "Chopper said there's only minor cuts and bruises, nothing too extravagant. He suggested that I let it heal and not use it much for the next few days."

"That's… nice… Good to… hear…" Zoro was barely able to get the words out of his mouth as his eyelids closed under a seemingly vast amount of weight. Without another word, Zoro found himself in a peaceful slumber. Light but defined snores soon began to leave the swordsman and Robin simply smiled as she returned to her book. The sound was music to her ears.

_Ending note: Woohoo, another chapter I'm very pleased with. As always, I boorishly request you all to review the story and tell me what you think of it. Now that it's ended, how did you like it? Was the ending good? Did I handle the characters well throughout the story? Please let me know what you think! Anyways, I've been thinking a lot of how I develop the relationship between Robin and Zoro. It's difficult to have anything substantial other than implied hints and nudges since anything more would come across as out of character since it isn't even remotely canon yet. As such, I don't think my stories with the straw hats will end with any complete romance which is unfortunate since I think it's an integral part to any story. Then again, I'll probably at some point do a one-shot or something where the romance happens, regardless of canon. With that on mind, at some point in the future, probably when I'm done with the arc or maybe during it, I'd like to try out a completely OC storyline using your characters. Not to get ahead of myself, I'll post a story for you guys to respond to with a prompt to follow in order to give me a good idea of your character and I'll pick the top 6-8 or so and make a crew with them (so no need to post a character in this story). Anyways, I hope you guys have enjoyed this story and look forward to a much larger one coming soon._


	8. Epilogue

A/N: Well, here it is, the last update for this story. Not when I'd have liked it to be, but it's become apparent I'm not able to get myself to update as efficiently as I'd like to. The next story will probably follow the same pattern of M/F and if I can handle it I'll try out the OC character one on Wednesdays. Anyways, I'd like to thank everybody who has reviewed or placed this story/myself in their favorites, you have no idea how awesome and appreciated it is. I don't generally respond to reviews, and it isn't because I'm lazy or anything, it's just that I don't really know what to say or how to convey my appreciation. Trust me, I've probably read every review I've gotten a dozen times over, and half of my enjoyment of making these stories is the knowledge that other people are enjoying them as well. Look forward to more things in the future!

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Zoro yawned. He didn't know how long he had been sleeping for but that didn't matter much. The ordeals inside the ancient tomb had tired him out greatly, and the green haired swordsman was happy to have finally gotten some well needed rest. Looking around him, Zoro saw that Robin still sat in her chair, book in hand as always. The book read "A History of Devil Fruit Powers and Their Abilities". Already knowing the answer to the question but interested to find out more, Zoro asked, "What are you reading, Robin?"

Looking up from her book to the swordsman, the raven haired archeologist smiled. "Oh, Kenshi-san, you're up. It's one of my older books that I brought from Arabasta on board the ship and something about what happened in the tomb piqued my curiosity. I recalled reading, some time ago, that there was a fruit whose power was supposed to give the user the ability to give life to inanimate objects. I'm looking for that particular fruit now." Robin returned her gaze to the book in her hand and flipped the page she was reading.

A thought occurred to Zoro as he sauntered up from his resting position, leaning against the railing with his arms resting behind him on it. He had remembered hearing other members of the crew briefly discussing devil fruit powers at dinner once, and even though he didn't pay much attention to it, one detail in particular stuck out to him. "Wait, does that mean that there was someone else on that island? I'd imagine the fruit has its limitations within boundaries and all, and the statues losing their power once they left the room would prove that. If that's the case, though, why would he be there in the first place and why didn't he try attacking us afterwards?"

Robin glanced up from her book to the swordsman, a look of amusement on her face. "Very astute observation, Kenshi-san, I came to the same conclusion myself. Though, if I may ask, what makes you think that somebody else had to be on the island other than us?"

The particular fact again nagged at the back of Zoro's mind. "There had to have been, otherwise the fruit's power wouldn't have worked. The only time a devil fruit can work is if its user is alive, and once they die the fruit is able to grow again. That's how they're able to catalogue them in that book you're reading, through experience."

Robin did not remove her gaze from the book this time; something on the page had caught her attention. "True and false, once a person dies, their devil fruit power eventually grows again, but there's a lesser known fact that some devil fruit powers can persist even after death, only growing once more when their effects wear off." His attention grabbed, the green haired swordsman raised one of his eyebrows and waited for the archeologist to continue. After reading the page of interest, Robin turned the book over and presented the page for Zoro to inspect. The swordsman walked over and leaned in to look at the page.

"It was more of a myth than anything else, but the rumored Jinsei Jinsei* no Mi was supposed to give the powers of animation. The last reported use of it was from the ruler of a civilization many thousands of years ago. According to the book, this fruit is one of the rare few that supposedly persist after death as long as the animated objects stay within a certain perimeter of the body."

Reading the pages but not making any sense of the words on the pages, Zoro stopped reading and stood up straight. "That's nice and all, but I think we would have seen a body if it was lying around somewhere in the tomb… wait!" Zoro's eyes widened as he mentioned the last word in his statement, tomb.

Robin wore the same amused expression as before. "That's right, Kenshi-san, that place was a tomb after all. It wasn't for any average person, either, most likely the leader of some long forgotten civilization."

Zoro began rubbing his chin in thought. "Where would he have been buried, then?" After a minute's silence, the answer appeared to the green haired swordsman and he snapped his fingers. "The altar! The ruler must have been buried at the altar, probably somewhere under the diamond. That would explain why the statues couldn't leave the room he was in."

Placing the book down and crossing her hands, the raven haired archeologist closed her eyes and interrupted the swordsman's train of thought. "All very good observations, but everything is merely conjecture. The only way to truly know is to go back there and see for ourselves. Still, I think it's safe to say we won't be seeing that power again anytime soon."

Opening her eyes and turning them to her companion, Robin smiled as he returned the gaze. "Well, if you'd excuse me, Kenshi-san, I think I'm going to follow your lead and get some much needed rest." Robin proceeded to close her book and carry it with her as she walked towards the women's quarters. Zoro found his gaze lingering on the raven haired archeologist longer than usual.

"Whatcha looking at, Zoro?" A mischievous voice rang out from behind the swordsman and he turned to see that it was none other than Nami. "You were looking at Robin, weren't you?"

As Zoro opened his mouth to defend himself, Nami interrupted him. "Don't lie; I've seen the way you two act around each other. What happened inside that tomb? Since you guys got out you two appear closer than ever."

His face starting to redden from irritation and embarrassment, Zoro swung his head to the side, avoiding Nami's accusing gaze. "Tch, nothing happened, really. All we did was get you that diamond and get out, nothing more. Speaking of the diamond, my debt is over with now, right?"

Placing her hands on her hips and leaning closer to the green haired swordsman, Nami decided she would let him get off the hook this time and let him change the subject. Not without a price, however. "Nothing happened, right. Anyways, I was going to let your debt slide, but since you caused incredible stress on my beautiful and delicate body with that little stunt of yours, I'm going to have to bring it back. I'd say the stress you exerted on me was worth, oh let's say, 100,000 Beli. That is, of course, unless you tell me right here and now you like Robin."

Zoro thought his head was going to explode from the ludicrous demand he had just heard from Nami. Shooting her a furious glare, Zoro spouted "What are you talking about?!? That was entirely that dumbass Luffy's fault! There's no way you can blame me for that!"

Not even flinching from Zoro's new assault, Nami brazenly smiled. "I can and I will, Zoro. All you have to do is admit what I already know and you can finally be debt free."

As their argument continued, Nami was amused at how Zoro continually avoided even acknowledging her request. His over reactive responses only furthered to confirm Nami's suspicions. Something was definitely up between the green haired swordsman and the raven haired archeologist.

_*Jinsei = life in Japanese (I think, said it on google)_

_Ending note: I intended for this epilogue to be a little different and to tie in to my new story, but as I was writing it I realized what I had been writing would fit much better as the first chapter in the new story, so I wrote that one first, then this one. To burichifan, the request sounds interesting; I'll definitely take a shot at it. How long do you want it to be? The premise sounds like it would end in actual romance, so I can try to work with that kind of subject and we'll see where it takes us._


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